ST JOHN PASSION
Johann Sebastian Bach
On Good Friday, 7 April 2023, the Dresden Bach Choir invites you to the Martin Luther Church to hear Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion. In this work, the audience of the premiere almost 300 years ago found tradition and musical innovation intertwined in an impressive way: Bach took his cue from the biblical text and the centuries-old practice of singing the Passion story in divided roles, while at the same time going beyond the level of artistry and harmonic boldness of the composers of many other Passion music in his choice of musical devices with which to interpret the text. Even today, the resulting drama in the sounds that will echo within the walls of the Martin Luther Church on Good Friday is captivating and captivating.
Source: www.kirchspiel-dresden-neustadt.de
DON GIOVANNI
Dramma giocoso
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Although Mozart enjoyed great success with "Don Giovanni" at its premiere in Prague in 1787 and in Vienna in 1888, one irritated reviewer attested to "a decided penchant for the severe and unusual." For despite the pointed comedy of the dramma giocoso, the opera is shrouded in a veil of gloom. In Kai Anne Schumacher's production, the interweaving of the fates of five noble figures and a servant, who seem to have known each other all their lives, is reminiscent of a room in which time has stood still. Hell consists in the constant recurrence of the murder of the Commendatore, an act that Don Giovanni committed years ago and that haunts him in his dreams. For Don Giovanni, reality shatters and the past catches up with him.
Source: Landesbühnen Sachsen/ Photo: Carsten Beier
Carsten-Beier-12022_Werther_(c)Carsten-Beier-12022_Werther_(c)Carsten-Be.jpg)
WERTHER
Drame lyrique by Jules Massenet
"Werther", the highly emotional work by the French late Romantic Massenet, a master of lyric opera, was first performed in Vienna in 1892. Even though this opera deals very freely with the motifs of Goethe's epistolary novel of 1774: The basic conflict is the same here: Werther has fallen in love with Charlotte, but she has had to promise her dying mother that she will marry Albert. The fact that Charlotte suppresses her feelings for Werther in favor of a marriage of convenience drives him to despair. Werther forcibly keeps away from the family, but when he is finally invited to the Christmas feast and forces Charlotte to confess her love, he has gone too far! Aware that there can be no fulfillment for their love under the given bourgeois circumstances, Werther borrows pistols from Albert for a "long journey"...
Source: Landesbühnen Sachsen/ Photo: Carsten Beier
DIE LUSTIGEN NIBELUNGEN
Burlesque operetta by Rideamus
Music by Oscar Straus
At Worms Castle, King Gunther is afraid of Queen Brunhilde, whose hand he has asked for, but who is in the habit of beating to death any suitor she can overcome in a duel. And in the afternoon she is already expected at the railway station! The only person who can help the king is the famous dragon-slayer Siegfried, who has deposited the Nibelungen treasure in the Rhenish Bank and appears at the right time as Kriemhild's bridegroom to secretly assist Gunther in battle with a magic cloak ... But of course the deception is discovered!
With its lively waltzes, catchy couplets and spirited marches, this parodic operetta, which dared to take aim at national pride, military boasting and enthusiasm for war during the imperial era, became the first great success of the Austrian composer Oscar Straus after its premiere in Vienna in 1904.
Source/Photo: Landesbühnen Sachsen
FROM MAGDEBURG TO DRESDEN
After six years in a permanent position at the Theater Magdeburg, Johannes Wollrab has returned to his hometown of Dresden as a new ensemble member of the Landesbühnen Sachsen at the beginning of the 2022/2023 season. His roles this season will include Father in "Hansel and Gretel," baritone in "Carmina Burana," King Gunther ("The Merry Nibelungs"), Marullo ("Rigoletto"), Albert in Massenet's "Werther," Don Giovanni, Prince Vladimir in Kalman's "The Circus Princess" and Prince Ottokar ("Der Freischütz").
Photo: Landesbühnen Sachsen